The Journey to Happiness Is About The Journey

I have been reading "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh. He is the guy who started LinkExchange and sold it for 200 million and then grew Zappos and sold it for 1 billion. Not a bad track record.

What is interesting is not the making lots of money part (well that is interesting too).

It is that he realized early on that it is not about the money (especially when you have a reasonable amount already I suppose). It is about the experiences you create and the relationships you build.

If fact, on professional networking… build depth in the friendships first and the networking benefits will take care of themselves, even if it takes 3 or more years to flourish. This contrasts to the approach of many who go to networking events with the goal of making as many contacts as possible and trying for a short-term win.

Some other author said to be "fully in the moment" referring to communication with others and connecting. I think this plays in well with building deeper relationships with people and creating meaningful experiences.

One of our respected client contacts reminded us to also celebrate the small victories and wins along the way. Sage advice as in real life, you usually find that right after any small victory comes another round of things to be solved. Celebration reinforces the success and creates positive momentum.

As an entrepreneur you have two choices. Play the game as defined by others or invent your own game. Either way you still have to interact with the rules of the universe and external world. But the important distinction is you have control over what game you play and how you play it.

Lately I have been thinking not only about where Sunwapta is going; but how I want the journey to be. I intend to focus a lot more on the relationships and experiences along the way.

In many ways the journey is more important. It will last a lot longer. It will either motivate you or demotivated you. It will also change your chance of getting to the destination.

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Doug Wagner is an entrepreneur, President and Co-founder of Sunwapta Solutions. Sunwapta's mission is to help businesses transform from surviving to thriving, sustainable growth. From strategy to implementation, this means marketing, sales, managing your brand and delivering consistent value. Get more clients and keep them.